Lubrication of bearings.



E. W. LINK,

LUBRICATION 0F BEARINGS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-3|. I915.

Patent-ed Oct. 17, 1916.

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ERNEST W. LINK, 0F GRANITE CITY, ILLINOIS.

LUBRICATION OF BEARINGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 17, 1916.

Application filed August 31, 1915. Serial No. 48,164.

1 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST W. LINK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Granite City, in the county of Madison and State of Illinois, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Lubrication of Bearings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in journal bearings and is especially adapted to railway car journals that are each provided with a superposed brass and wedge inclosed in a journal box fitting in the end of a side frame.

The peculiarities of my invention will be hereinafter described and claimed.

The main object of my invention is to provide emergency lubrication for the journal in the case of the journal becoming overheated from the entrance of grit, lack of lubrication or other cause, which could not be readily relieved on account of the circumstances under which the journal was being used.

Another object is to obstruct or practically prevent theft of the brass from the journal box. 7

Another object is to hold the side frame and journal box from accidental separation.

Other functions of my invention will appear from the following description and claims. I V

In the accompanying drawings on which like reference letters indicate corresponding parts, Figure 1 represents part of a side frame, journal box and fittings of arailway car journal with my improvements applied thereto,-parts being broken away to show the construction; Fig. 2, a plan View of the same; Fig. 3, a vertical sectional view, trans versely to the journal, suflicient to show my improvements; Fig. 4:, a front view of a railway journal box with its fittings, and part of a side frame integrally cast therewith, and exemplifying my invention; and Fig. 5, a line shaft box exemplifying my invention.

When a journal or other bearing becomes overheated it is caused usually by abnormal friction due to lack of lubrication, entrance of grit, excessive pressure or speed, and the journal with its adjacent fittings may become so hot as to cause the fracture of the journal and wreck of the train,if the j ournal be in a railway truck,-or of the machine in which the journal or bearing is located. If such overheating occurs in a railway journal it may escape notice, or cannot be attended to, until the train reaches the next station and the car having the hot box can'be cut out, or the box can be cooled. It is my main object to provide suflicient lubrication in this emergency to allow running the train safely until it reaches such point. Serious wrecks have occurred by twisting off an overheated journal when oversight, negligence, or necessity has caused the continued use of the journal in such overheated condition.

Referring to the drawings, letter A designates a railway journal box, 13 the journal bearing, C the brass therefor and D the wedge.

E is the side frame mounted on the journal box and having formed in the head thereof as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 (or other suitable part) a chamber F adapted to contain a lubricant of composition grease preferably semisolid or non-liquid under ordinary temperatures developed by regular running conditions, but capable of melting, liquefying or otherwise changing its condition under abnormal temperatures developed by friction on said bearing. An outlet opening for said chamber is formed preferably in the plate portion of said side frame above the box, which matches a similar opening in the top of the box, and also openings in the wedge and brass, thus forming a passage from the chamber to the bearing. The hole in the brass is preferably tapped to receive the threaded end of a pipe G extending upward through said passage and into said chamber. The enlarged openings through the wedge, box and plate of side frame allow the necessary working play of said fittings. The top of said pipe is preferably enlarged within said chamber F to form a tank H adapted to contain a liquid lubricant that is quite fluid at practically all climatic temperatures, such as the black oil used as standard lubricant for railway journals. Just below the enlargement is a hole or perforation in the pipe G adapted to afford communication with the chamber F, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 7. The hexagonal top of the tank extends nearly to the top of said chamber F, below a locking cover I in the top member of the side frame in this I case, and a hexagonal cover J closes the tank..

The pipe at its lower end, and also the perforation mentioned, are sealed with a poured into bearing under proper lubrication and condi-' tions,-or in other words, except by abnormal heat creating an emergency not controllable by the usual lubrication.

In assembling, the pipe and hole would be sealed by the hard grease composition or other suitable material, the black oil poured into the tank, and its cover put on. The hard grease forming the secondary lubricant would then, in a hot, fluid condition, be

the chamber F, filling the passage around the pipe and preferably the whole chamber. The locking cover would then be put on and locked either by the bolt and nut shown in Fig. 3, or other suitable means.

It is optional whether first-to seal the pipe, insert the pipe and tank through the inlet opening to the chamber and screw it into the brass with a hexagonal plug wrench, before filling the tank or after insertion, but the method described above seems preferable.

l/Vhen for any cause abnormal heat develops in the bearing the seal melts, passes downward and allows the black oil to flow quickly upon the journal and flush it with a copious lubricant that tends to wash out any grit and to cool the bearing. If the abnormal heat still continues in spite of this primary lubrication, the pipe and tank act as a conductor of heat from the bearing to the hard grease in the chamber F, which grease melts by degrees and flows through the opening in the pipe down to the journal. This constitutes the secondary lubrication and is slow feeding because of the slow melting quality of the hard grease. Sufficient secondary lubricant is stored in the said chamber F to supply the bearing for many miles of travel, if the flushing action of the primary lubricant alone should not be sufiicient to take it to the next station.

In many cases, the primary lubrication will be sufficient, and it is within the scope of my invention to use one lubricant chamber, sealed at its outlet passage, communicating with the bearing, and to melt the seal by direct contact with the overheated bearing, or by conducting the abnormal heat to the seal by a pipe or otherwise. It is also evident that such single chamber may be filled with liquid lubricant,.with the hard grease compisition mentioned, or other suitable filling in liquid, semi-solid, solid, or other condition, as desired. Itis also evident that said lubricant chamber may be formed in the top of the journal box as shown in Fig. 4:, or may be otherwise located adjacent to the bearing and adapted to be unsealed from the abnormal heat of the bearing, without departing from my invention. I

While I have described above and shown herewith my improvements applied to a journal bearing, it is evident they are applicable to a shaft as shown in Fig. 5; in which the shaft B is provided with a box A and chamber F for the hard grease, which in this case has been poured around a core to form a central chamber therein when withdrawn from the cooled composition. The black oil is then poured into this inner chamber,-corresponding to the tank chamber previously described,and completes the filling of the chamber F a cover caps the chamber. This construction operates in a similar manner to that previously described, as it is evident that abnormal heat developed in the shaft within the box will first melt the sealing portion of the hard grease in the outlet passage and bottom of the chamber F which restrains the black oil in the cored-out chamber; this unsealing of the outlet will allow the flow 'of the previously restrained black oil to the shaft bearing and the hard grease will gradually melt and supply the bearing with the secondary lubricant, if the cooling action of primary lubricant is not sufficient.

Another function and object of my invention is the interlocking of the assembled parts by the construction shown and described so as to prevent stealing the brass from the car ournal. It is evident that the pipe G, threaded, or otherwise connected to the brass and extending upward through the wedge and journal box to the lubricant chamber, prevents withdrawing either brass or wedge until said pipe is removed. Any suitable form of locking cover may be used for the lubricant chamber, to obstruct or prevent stealing the brass which is a source of annoyance, loss and danger to a train. Ignorance of my construction renders a simple locking device such as the bolt shown in Figs. 2 and 3, sufficient to thwart a thief.

It will thus be evident that one function of my invention is the interlocking of the assembled parts, and obstruction, if not the absolute prevention, of brass stealing. An other function of the tank and pipe eonnection to the brass is, that the assembled parts may dispense with other connecting bolts,

pins or fastenings between the side frame and journal box.

In this specification the term primary lubricant designates one that acts first after the seal is melted, and on account of its preferred thin, quick-flowing liquid condition, flushes the bearing that is over-heated.

The term secondary lubricant designates one that follows up, if over-heating continues, the flushing action of the primary lubricant, and supplements by its gradual tion, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An emergency lubrication for a hearing, comprising a primary lubricant chamber and a secondary lubricant chamber, both chambers communicating with said bearing by a common outlet passage,and a seal for said passage adapted to be opened by abnormal heat from said bearing.

2. An emergency lubrication for a bearing,'comprising a primary lubricant chamber and a secondary lubricant chamber, a pipe from said bearing to the primary lubricant chamber and having a hole in the side thereof communicating with said secondary chamber, and a seal closing said hole and the end of said pipe adjacent to said bearing and adapted to be opened by abnormal heat from said bearing.

3. An emergency lubrication for a bearing, comprising a primary chamber to contain a liquid lubricant and a secondary chamber to contain a high-melting lubri-,

cant, a passage leading from said bearing to both of said chambers, and a fusible seal for said passage located adjacent to said bearing and adapted to be melted by abnormal heat from said bearing, and thereby eifect a flushing lubrication of said bearing by the liquid lubricant and a supplemental lubrication by the other lubricant.

4. An emergency lubrication for a bearing, comprising a double chamber for a liquid lubricant and a slow-melting lubricant, respectively, a passage leading from said bearing to both said lubricants, a heat conductor extending from said bearing to said double chamber, and a fusible seal, located in said passage and also in contact with said heat conductor, whereby the opening of said seal will release the liquid lubricant at once and the continued action of said heat conductor will liquefy said slow-melting lubricant.

The combination with a railway journal bearing, its brass, Wedge, journal box and side frame, of a lubricant chamber located above said bearing, a pipe leading from said chamber down through enlarged holes in the top of the journal box and wedge but fitting tightly in a hole through the brass above the bearing, a secondary lubricant chamber adapted to communicate with said bearing through said pipe, and a seal for said pipe adapted to melt under abnormal heat from said bearing.

6. The combination with a railway journal bearing, its brass, wedge, journal box and side frame, of a lubricant chamber located in the head of the side frame above said bearing, an outlet pipe leading from said chamber down loosely through the plate of the side frame, top of journal box and wedge, and fitting tightly into a hole through the brass to the bearing, a secondary lubricant chamber also located in the head of the side frame and adapted to communicate with said bearing through said pipe, and a seal forsaid pipe adapted to be melted-by abnormal heat from said bearing.

7. The combination with a railway journal bearing, its fittings, and side frame, of a lubricant chamber formed in the head of said side frame and provided with a cover and having an outlet, means to connect said outlet with said bearing, and a seal closing said means till melted by abnormal heat from said bearing.

8. The combination with a railway journal bearing, its brass, wedge, journal box, and side frame, of a lubricant chamber formed in the head of said side frame, a

locking cover for an inlet opening to said.

formed in the head of the side frame, a'

locking cover for a chamber inlet, an inner tank for a liquid lubricant, a perforated pipe connecting said tank and chamber with said bearing by passing through intermediate fittings, and a fusible seal for said pipe, thus providing emergency lubrication and interlocking said parts in their assembled positionssubstantially as described.

10. The hereindescribed process of emergency lubrication, consisting in providing a non-fluid lubricant adjacent to a bearing, and also a fluid lubricant that is restrained from flowing to said bearing by an intervening portion of said non-fluid lubricant, in raising the temperature of the latter portion of said non-fluid lubricant so as to change it from its non-fluid condition to a fluid condition, and thus allow the unrestrained flow' of said fluid lubricant to said bearing.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ERNEST W. LINK.

Copies 01 this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

